The present invention pertains to a fluid fill apparatus and method for placing a hydraulic fluid charge in a hydraulic engine mount for automotive vehicles and the like.
In the production of hydraulic engine and powertrain mounts for automotive vehicles, conventional practice entails assembling the mount components, typically comprising an elastomer body, an orifice plate, a flexible diaphragm and a base plate, in fluid-tight assembly followed by drilling a hole through the elastomer body, evacuating air from the interior chambers of the mount, filling the mount with a suitable hydraulic fluid and then plugging the hole with a rivet-like closure member or the like. Accordingly, a multi-step process is required to finalize the assembly of the mount which is subject to certain inefficiencies and mount rejection rates due, for example, to incomplete fluid filling, contamination of the mount interior chambers as a consequence of the drilling operation and multiple handling steps.
Consequently, there has been a need to more efficiently carry out the process of assembling hydraulic engine mounts and the like to eliminate the multiple steps required by prior art fluid filling processes and the imperfections and mount failure rates which arise as a consequence of such prior art processes. Moreover, by eliminating the multiple-step process of drilling, filling and riveting, manufacturing time and labor content of the mount manufacturing process is reduced.
Still further, elimination of the prior art drilling and riveting processes would also eliminate the maintenance of and manufacturing downtime created by the manufacturing process stations which perform the drilling and riveting operations. It is to these ends that the present invention has been developed.
The present invention provides an apparatus for use in manufacturing hydraulic engine mounts and the like including, in particular, use in performing the steps of evacuating the interior chambers of the mount and filling the chambers with hydraulic fluid.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, an apparatus is provided which includes a housing or support member for a body member and orifice plate of a hydraulic mount, which support member is cooperable with a head member to place the mount components in assembly with each other, provide a substantially fluid-tight flow path for evacuation of air from within the interior chambers of the mount and provide for filling the mount with hydraulic fluid prior to sealing the components of the mount to each other.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, an apparatus is provided which is adapted for carrying out a method of filling a hydraulic mount with a suitable hydraulic fluid wherein the requirement for a separate port and plug used for evacuating and filling the mount interior chambers is eliminated. In accordance with a method of the invention, the components of the mount including an elastomer body, a partition or orifice plate, a diaphragm and a base plate are loosely assembled in an apparatus of the invention, the mount components are held in assembly while air is evacuated from the pumping chamber, the orifice track and the fluid reservoir of the mount and such spaces are then filled with a suitable hydraulic fluid. The foregoing steps are preferably followed by the step of sealing the components of the mount in fluid-tight relationship with each other.
In accordance with yet a further aspect of the invention, an improved hydraulic mount is provided which is adapted for evacuating air from the mount interior chambers, filling the mount chambers and sealing the components of the mount in assembly with each other in fluid-tight relationship without the requirement of a drilled or otherwise formed air evacuation and fluid fill port and plug therefor.
Those skilled in the art will further appreciate the above-mentioned advantages and superior features of the invention together with other important aspects thereof upon reading the detailed description which follows in conjunction with the drawings.